Toshiba Surprises With Touch-Screen Tablet

CNET News, currently attending the IFA convention in Berlin, is reporting that Toshiba surprised the audience with the reveal of its first touch-screen tablet, the JournE. Touch. While the name recalls memories of Steve Perry's tenor voice and the 80's mullet hairdo, the device definitely makes us salivate for a hands-on impression. Weighing less than a pound and featuring a 7-inch screen, Toshiba is not only aiming to beat competitors to the market, but offer a third Internet device in the home for consumers.

Toshiba executive Marco Perino told CNET that the JournE's prime goal is to give consumers access to the Internet without having to boot up the PC (although most of us leave the PC on anyway, so that point seems moot). It's also an alternative to Internet-ready smartphones that provide small, "not so practical" keyboards. Perino also said that the device would be perfect for sharing content to other devices within the home, such as connecting it to a TV and steaming web-based video and photos.

On the hardware side, the device features an ARM processor, Windows CE, and integrated Wi-Fi. The device is only a half-inch thick, however according to CNET, the touchpad isn't designed for data input (but has an application for typing). Toshiba hasn't released an official press release as of yet, so expect more hardware specs to appear soon.

The JournE Touch is expected to ship in Europe first by the end of 2009, with other regions to follow thereafter. As for pricing, the tablet is slated to retail for (roughly) $360, or 249 Euros.

This looks cool, not much more than an iPod touch but looks more useful (at home at least) The line between PC and portable media player are getting blurred. This would make for great viewing of films on the train/plane

Most curious. Can't wait to see one in action or, at least, read a full review. If it handles media playback well and has a decent screen, I could see myself getting one. It could make long journeys (pardon the pun) fun.